There is a faint line on my pregnancy test, am I pregnant ?

There is a faint line on my pregnancy test, am I pregnant ?

This is a common question with pregnancy test strips and traditional midstream pregnancy tests and one of the reasons that Clearblue went over to a digital pregnancy test kit. A faint line on a pregnancy test can cause confusion and anxiety but it does not need to.

How to read a faint line on a pregnancy test

As long as you have a clear control line (C line) to validate the pregnancy test has worked correctly, any definite test line that appears in the T area of the test even a faint or thin test line indicates a positive pregnancy test result if it is showing at the correct read time for the test, for most brands this is between 2 and 5 minutes.

Do not come back to a pregnancy test later as any test line forming after the correct read time is not an accurate result.

A word of caution about extremely faint lines on pregnancy tests as shown here

• Make sure that you are not seeing the chemical substrate that is embedded into the pregnancy test and misinterpreting this as a faint line. To see this look at the pregnancy test strip before you conduct your test and any extremely faint line that you can see then is substrate.
• The picture above that was sent to us is not a positive result
• To be positive you need to see a definite line that is visible to the naked eye and does not need to be digitally enhanced or magnified.

Why is the test line on my pregnancy test faint?

There are several reasons why the T line on a pregnancy test may be faint:

The level of the pregnancy hormone in the urine sample that you have tested may be very low. This could be for several reasons:

• The pregnancy is very early and so the hormone levels are not sufficient to give a strong positive line or BFP (big fat positive)
• Your urine sample is very dilute
• The pregnancy has not continued and the hormone levels are reducing

The pregnancy test that you have used is not particularly sensitive

• The sensitivity of pregnancy test brands does vary and it is always worth using the most sensitive one as this will give a stronger positive result

What should I do if my pregnancy test result is a faint line

• Re-read your instructions and make sure that you are reading the pregnancy test result at the correct time.
• Repeat the pregnancy test using a first morning void
• Always test on your first urine of the day known as your first morning void. This is the urine that you produce after you have been in bed all night. This is always more concentrated, and should give a stronger positive result as the pregnancy homone hcg will be more concentrated then.
• If you can wait at least 48 hours before repeating the pregnancy test you will allow the hormone levels to increase and be more likely to get a stronger T line.
• You could use a more sensitive pregnancy test such as a 10miu pregnancy test which will give a stronger result if the pregnancy hormone hcg is present 
• Consider using a digital pregnancy test that will give you a definate yes or no answer but make sure it is a sensitive one.
• During a normal pregnancy the hormone levels increase rapidly, so the pregnancy test line should get stronger giving you a definite positive result
• If you continue getting faint lines on the pregnancy test results despite trying the above then it is worth consulting your doctor

What does a BFP look like on a pregnancy test strip

• A BFP (big fat positive) is a definite test line as shown here and is what you are looking for on your pregnancy test strip result

You can buy ultra early detection pregnancy test strips and kits online here